Sleepover
by dingcs
Summary: "Please don't make her stay here." Ignored. When the doorbell rang, he watched his mom rush to the door and welcome the devil's apprentice into their house.


**Sleepover**

As he landed on his butt with a thud, Takuya watched Zoe gracefully dribble the ball past him and send it flying into the net... again.

"Another goal for me!" the blonde exclaimed, her short arms flailing in the air as she jumped up with celebration.

The eight year old narrowed his eyes at her. "Beginner's luck," he seethed, and with a punch at the ground, he rose to his feet.

She reclaimed the ball from the net and jogged towards him. "You said that three goals ago, Taki," she laughed, taunting him almost. His teeth clenched. If there was anything that annoyed him the most, it would be nicknames – especially stupid ones like _Taki_. She knew it annoyed him, but his reaction to every name call was way too entertaining for her to stop. "Why can't you just admit that I'm better than you?"

The tone of her voice was smug, and the grin on her lips didn't differ. Truth is, she was better than him, not only in soccer but in _everything_. No matter what it was, Takuya Kanbara always came in second behind Zoe Orimoto, and the only thing in the way of letting him admit it was his pride.

He snatched the ball from her hands. "Because you're not! You're a _girl_." He hissed, walking back to the park entrance, leaving her all alone on the field.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm going home! Don't follow me!"

—

"Mom," he whined. "Please don't make her stay here."

His mother sighed at another one of her son's complaints. She didn't understand why Takuya disliked Zoe all of a sudden. He used to love it when she slept over, especially when they stayed up until late night building pillow forts or watching Spy Kids, reenacting the fight scenes afterwards. In fact, it was usually her who would begrudge the arrival of his trusted sidekick since the house would be trashed into an oblivion after Zoe's visits. Now it was the opposite. "I can't Takuya," she said, pouring the noodles into the boiling pot with one hand and stirring the sauce with the other. "I already promised Mr. Orimoto that I'd watch her for the night while he's out on a business trip."

"Why can't she stay at JP's house?" he pressed further.

"His house is too far." She reasoned, stalking off to the dining room to set up the table. "And like I said, I already promised her father that I would watch her. It's just one night, honey, please do it for me."

"...Fine." He muttered into his arms as he hung his head low over the kitchen counter. As much as he hated the thought of Zoe invading his personal privacy that is his home, he couldn't argue with his mother.

When the doorbell rang, he watched his mom rush to the door and welcome the devil's apprentice into their house. "Takuya, Zoe's here!" she called out soon after.

Unwillingly, he approached them, feet trudging each step he took.

"Hi Takuya!" The first thing he noticed was the wide smile etched on her face that seemed genuine and harmless , but knowing her, she was up to no good. Her mischievous ways from the past confirmed his theory of '_Zoe Is Evil'_ to be true. He couldn't trust her. He had to look out for—

"Give that back!"

Zoe squealed gleefully as she ran around the living room with his stolen hat, a pair of goggles strapped to the brim of it, his signature accessory. "You gotta catch me first!"

It was going to be a long night.

—

"This is delicious, Mrs. Kanbara." Zoe praised, slurping up the pasta til her cheeks puffed out. "You're a great cook. It even tastes better than my dad's cooking!"

Mrs. Kanbara smiled. "Thank you dear. I knew spaghetti and meatballs is your favorite."

"It sure is!"

From across the table, Takuya stared at her, disgust evident on his features as she took another forkful to her mouth, the corners caked with sauce. It would have been cute if she wasn't devouring the food like a starved street rat. It bothered him so much, his appetite went away. As Mrs. Kanbara disappeared into the kitchen to fetch another fresh batch of garlic bread, Zoe pointed a fork at his untouched plate. "You gonna to eat that?"

"_Yes._" He spat out, but still didn't touch a single noodle. Instead he opted to play with the meatballs on the side.

"Wow, you're all done Zoe?" His mom asked once she returned, eyeing her licked-clean plate.

"Yup! It was _so_ good."

He rolled his eyes at her. He knew she didn't mean that; all she wanted was an extra scoop of ice cream for when dessert comes.

—

She didn't get an extra scoop of ice cream.

She got _two._

—

Takuya laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling in darkness, trying to fall asleep, but he couldn't – not when Zoe was in the very room next to his. She was bound to attack at any moment, and he wasn't going to allow her to. Every possible prank she could pull, he thought of every possible counter to them.

He listened to the rainfall pattering against the window and saw a quick flash of lightning light up his room when he felt his eyelids grow heavy. He glanced at the clock—a quarter after ten—and figured it was safe now. Surely Zoe was asleep by now considering how she barely kept her eyes open when they were playing Mario Kart. He even won a few games, which is a surprising feat since he never wins when he's up against her. She _had_ to be asleep.

She wasn't.

"Takuya?" He heard a soft whisper from the doorway.

He switched positions on the bed, feigning sleep, thinking that if he ignored her, she would go away. It was far late into the night for him to deal with her games and trickery. However she couldn't take a hint and quietly tiptoed across the room to his bed.

"Takuya," she tried again, now tugging on the sleeve of his shirt.

_No._ He needed his beauty sleep. He was about to tell her to leave and go back to bed, but when he turned around to face her, he saw her green eyes wet with tears. A crack of thunder rolled in and she yelped, her legs barely holding her up as she trembled with fear.

Zoe was terrified of thunder.

The new discovery surprised him, and he found himself kneeling beside the frightened girl in an attempt to comfort her. He held out his arms to her and, when she leaned into him, lifted her onto the bed so that she was sitting next to him. Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and he quickly thumbed them away. As much as he enjoyed seeing Zoe be weak and vulnerable in front of him for a change, he wasn't going to be a jerk and tease her now...

"You can sleep here tonight," he said, laying on his back with her secured by his side and throwing the blankets over their bodies. He then clamped his hands over her ears, hoping it would tune out the booming sound even just a little bit.

She snuggled into his safe embrace. "Thank you."

...He was going to wait until the next morning.

.

.

.

_end._

* * *

**note:** Aren't they cute?

Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcomed.


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